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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Review of "Helliconia Summer" by Brian Aldiss

The shape of Brian Aldiss’s SF Masterwork Helliconia could
be said to be parabolic. If Helliconia Spring is the slow, curving entry point, then Helliconia Summer, the middle
volume, is the zenith story-wise. Or at least that’s
the feel two-thirds of through the series.
Aldiss trying to paint a historical and evolutionary picture of
humanity’s existence on a distant planet, Helliconia Summer’s narrative does
not pick up where the first volume left off, and instead focuses on a point in
the society’s development loosely equivalent to the Baroque Era many centuries
in the future from Helliconia Spring.
Were the lives of the kings and queens the only focal points, some would
say that the book is mere alternate universe fantasy. But that Aldiss juxtaposes the land dwellers’
lives with the crew of the space station orbiting Helliconia, focus changes from
medieval drama to soft science fiction.
Cementing this idea are the clashes of ideology, science vs. religion,
for example, which seed the plot and create points of realistic contention for
those inhabiting and orbiting the fantastika of Helliconia.

A more consistent offering than Helliconia Spring, the
plot of Helliconia Summer, while unraveling in an atypical, almost backward
timeline, forms a cohesive whole with a poignant resolution. The book opens with the king and queen of one
of Helliconia’s many 16th century-esque kingdoms contemplating the divorce the
king has organized so that he can marry another. Feeling shunned, the queen stands on a beach
pondering her future when a corpse wearing a digital watch washes ashore. Stopping at this point, Aldiss jumps back in
time to narrate the history of these circumstances, and at the conclusion,
resolves the wave of cultural enmity and religious fervor that has built around
the two and caused the schism.

Each story woven like strands in a braid into a larger
narrative, the number of viewpoints grows in the telling of the king and
queen’s history. A merchant, a
scientist, an advisor, a diplomat, the king’s children, and a general, among
others, round out the short list of main characters and give the novel the
depth needed to describe the variety of lands, cultures, authorities, and
interests scattered over the planet. Once
again receiving stage time is the species Aldiss introduced in Helliconia Spring, the phagors. The planet’s
summer a low point in their cycle of existence, the majority of phagors have
been killed off or are slaved to humans.
Only random groups are able to live in hiding or in the arctic wilds
with any sense of freedom, and as such, inter-species hatred continues playing
a hand in human affairs on the planet.

But where Aldiss really advances the overall Helliconia
narrative is by developing the Avernus storyline. Life on the orbiting space station routine
and sterile, many of the crew, upon seeing the pleasures and pains of the
humans below, yearn for something similar.
Injecting hope into the doldrums and ennui of their prescribed lives, a
lottery is routinely held where one member of the crew is allowed to go to the
surface to both live and end their life—the microbes and viruses on Helliconia
100% lethal. In keeping with the
denouement of Brave New World, Billy Xiao Pin is a character selected to
leave the rote of Avernus for a more visceral life planet-side. Knowing death is imminent, the manner in
which Billy spends his time shows Aldiss has a firm grasp on instincts inherent
to humanity. That Billy’s flaming out in
existential glory is viewed as desirable by the crew on Avernus only further
indicates the author’s understanding of fundamental human desires. The lives of those on the planet below
likewise wanting more, it seems the grass is always greener on the other side.

And there are a variety of other subjects touched upon in Helliconia Summer. Foremost among them
are religion, science, and the value and role each have in society. Not a drum beater for science rather a
conservative proponent, Aldiss recognizes the value of the more subjective
principles of society and entwines them nicely with the narrative. There is also a Gaian perspective to the
novel. Descriptions of atmospheric,
geological, and geomorphic changes appear and reappear, and the fact man is
subject to the larger, uncontrollable forces of nature is continually
emphasized. Applicable even to those on
Avernus, Aldiss never loses touch of scope.

In the end, Helliconia Summer is an improvement on the
previous volume. The cosmological setup
of planets revolving around suns revolving around suns is used to stronger effect. The characters are more complex and realistic
and the storyline is smoother and more oriented toward theme. Developing the book as such, the “big ideas”
underpinning the story punch deeper into both the narrative and reader’s understanding
of the text. The only faults that remain
have to do with a rather ordinary prose style and space limitations. Trying to paint a picture of planet-sized
dimensions, including its dispersed cultures, characterization takes a back
seat. But while most characters may
indeed be representative, a few, including the king and queen, are fleshed out
in enough detail that upon climax it’s possible a pang of empathy may arise for
their circumstances. Fans of Cherryh, Le Guin, and other such writers will want to take note of the series as a whole,
and those who’ve read Helliconia Spring and liked it will want to
continue. The series brought to its zenith, it will be interesting to see how the narrative plays out at the other
end of the parabola, Helliconia Winter.

3 comments:

Billy gets to do what every reader wishes, namely to jump into the narrative himself after being a passive observer for so long. How many people would give their lives to fall into their favorite book?

Apologies, Bob. You're absolutely right. I got my astronomy flipped 'round - not good for a sci-fi aficionado. I intended 'zenith', but wrote 'nadir'. Also, I was not referring to quality, rather the story arc, most particularly its size.